My calendar told me today that tomorrow is “Indigenous Peoples Day”… so I looked up a definition of Indigenous Peoples.  Of course I know the intention, however,  I found the United Nations has no specific definition, but rather a multi-page paper to describe the apparently undefinable.  I guess, as I see it, they are peoples who descended from peoples who arrived before the peoples who arrived later.  And then view themselves as natives, as we then view ourselves as civil members of the society for which we claim ownership.   Because we defined it as so, and those others coming after us are immigrants which  most of us were at one time, and which are distinguishable, I suppose, from most recent migrants… at least for the purpose of conserving some cultural heritage which we supplanted over the top of some previous peoples and their heritage.

There does seem to be some truth to the notion that the winners of conflict and migration and supplantion write the history, and define thus the place for all of us.  So tomorrow, cheers to the peoples who came before the peoples before us… and their culture which we continue to supplant… I guess they deserve a day!

Maybe those defined as migrants and refugees will get a day sometime in the future?

As Emily Dickinson  said there is “no frigate like a book which could take us away” … A writer writes from their imagination, something from the soul which is ever in motion, and can take a reader to faraway places and different times, and expose us to experiences and truths we might not otherwise fathom… and the words live-on, once they are written.  We can experience these words, and truths a thousand years later, we can understand the wisdom and morality from Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, written a hundred and eighty years ago, or experience the transcendent oneness with Rumi from the thirteenth century…

Oneness 
by Rumi

There are many languages in the world —
but all with one meaning.

Water becomes one
when you break the jars.

The soul will send news to all
possessed of spiritual vision,
when you break
the heart
from words.

The words, the ideas, the poetry never ends as long as someone still finds the truth and beauty of such works.  Author’s can find a form of immortality through such virtuous creations.

But words are not restricted to the domain of truth tellers, they are also the tools of those who would deceive and lie for their own entertainment.  And even worse, are the unvirtuous who would lie and manufacture facts for some devious purpose, or self-aggrandizement.   Sadly, lies can live long healthy lives, as well as, beautiful poetry or virtuous books.  Generally, the authors are and often desire to remain hidden, for they know they are lying.

Conspiracy theories today seem to have a life of their own, they may have been born in satire and humor,  but when promoted by those who know better,  they begin to find favor and instead of taking us smoothly to new places, they create turbulence, and to those willing to believe, they promulgate dangerous beliefs… and worse they leave a legacy which allows the weak to trust no truths, to believe nothing.  Regardless the facts, they will choose to believe the wildest conspiracy theories.

I met someone a couple weeks ago, a young man who thought the moon landing was a fake, that it never happened… I think with all the real stories to be read, for all the truths to be understood, what a waste of intellect, imagination, of soul to believe such nonsense…  This was a conspiracy born in the 1970’s which should have been long-disabused and died, and yet it survives.  I told him I worked in the space business for 40 plus years and I knew Apollo astronauts and I understand what it takes to go to space, and I answered some of his questions and tried to write over a wrong in his heart, but who knows if truth can take root in such salted soil?   He said, well “at least I’m not a flat-Earther” as if this was some level of virtue.
Imagine now, the lost souls who will believe and pass to their children and beyond the stories of immigrants stealing pets to eat them?   Lies may live long lives… words are fragile things, which should be treated with care by responsible truth tellers, and those who would abuse these words should be banished to the hells they seek to create.

I’m continuously amazed, at such a time as ours, with untold riches of information available, millions and millions of worthy books, poetry, history, and legitimate fact-based news we are a society which produces millions of people who will keep the words which should die alive. They will believe, regardless of the truths available, the most outlandish lies, because they want to…  I imagine they would even be willing to believe the  Grimm’s Fairy Tales are really history.

I’ve been reading about the genius of Abraham Lincoln* and in particular his political style which included a great deal of empathy, a great deal of understanding of diverse viewpoints from which he would make arguments which were based upon the moral-ethical values of our nation, while grounded in the realities of the times.  He used homespun stories, and analogies to help people understand his points of views, but never denigrated or demeaned others, knowing that “In order to win a man to your cause” Lincoln explained you must first reach his heart “the great high road to reason” … even in the political fight against slavery, he knew slavery was evil and horrible injustices were being done, but he would not assign evilness to slave holders, as abolishment was challenging their way of life and income… he proposed to meet them where they are and help to move them with reason and compassion, but do so with relentless persuasion, and eventually war for this purpose and to maintain the American experiment and ideals of the Declaration of Independence, that all are created equal.

We today, face challenging times, with threats to our nation not dissimilar to those of the 1850s… for a “house divided against itself cannot stand” as Lincoln said.  Today we are divided.  Today we denigrate and demean instead of understand and communicate.  We must understand that for many of our fellow Americans don’t care if democratic institutions were to be replaced by autocracy or an oligarchy for they have lost faith in our institutions.  Our form of government just doesn’t seem to work for them.  Furthermore the entertainment news and social media is laced with misinformation masquerading as news.  Their fears and mistrust are being used to push them down a path of compliance to powers which would in turn exploit them.  I warned of this coming storm with a book I published 4 years ago this month called Trump, Power & the Lessons of Orwell’s 1984: Democracy is Being Threatened … and my message remains true.  Disinformation, distrust of institutions and fears are still being used to move people toward the darkness of power and autocracy, and this is not a problem which is going away any time soon.  

I believe Trump will be defeated in November, largely because he will lose the women vote as, reproductive rights will be front and center for many, and the damage done by the dark tome of Project 2025 seems to be sticking to Trump.  Therefore democracy will survive, but the seeds of this Trumpian-darkness are planted deep and the distrust by his followers will not recover without healing.  Dangerously these seeds will be harvested by another, possibly more cunning than Trump in the future.  We as a nation must address and treat the underlying issues and concerns in order to reach the heart of the matter through the hearts and minds of the disillusioned.

We must address the underlying issues with compassion and understanding, never using denigrating terms like “basket of deplorables”, as was once done, as this will only harden their resolve.  We must understand their fears and distrust are born of experience… and we must relate.  We all know the frustration with institutions, after all, who hasn’t fought with insurance companies?  We all know of family or friends and heard stories of the devastation of drugs, of homelessness, of despair, and who cannot relate to the cumulative effect of inflation?   Also, it is not a Christian conspiracy or some failure in reason to seek power through a leader like Trump, but rather a break in the faith of compromise and democracy that leads Evangelical Christians to side with someone who clearly doesn’t know the Bible and doesn’t live Christian values.  The source of these problems are not rooted in the liberal democracy which they are turning away from, these problems are pervasive and are due to human frailties and crime and corruption… and they exists in autocracies as well, the press there is just not free to report on the problems.  The problems can be fought only with understanding and the raising-up of everyone.  Especially those who have felt abandoned as liberal elites have written them off… government is not of the people for the people if it is not for all the people.

Reason and historical perspective and sourcing of information to those living in the desert-echo-chamber of MAGA requires meeting them where they are… understanding why they think the way they do?  Asking why is the only way.   Refuting the “they all do it,  all politicians are corrupt and criminal” cannot be accomplished with a wave of the  hand, or saying that’s stupid.  Rather, asking where would you rather live?  Asking, isn’t it good to have a free press and open sources of information to challenge and expose corruption?  Isn’t it good to have a justice system who will prosecute the Menendez’s as well as the Trump’s of this world equally?   Where in the world does this happen, except in countries with an open democracy with institutions like the DoJ and importantly the free press.   Sure our government can be improved, all can… but it is up to us to support it and to vote.  Encourage the widening of the information horizon, encourage questioning and build bridges through reason and understanding… for a “house divided against itself cannot stand”.

I know, I have not always lived by these words, I’ve been quick to dismiss those I believed would not understand, those who had been seduced by the idea that there is a way toward (or back) to a way of life where all problems were solved by force of authority and enforced conformity.   But I am still learning, as we all should; and for me Abraham Lincoln is a remarkable teacher through his actions and words so very many years ago.

* Team of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin…. Thank you Tracy for the gift of this marvelous book.

Power of Nature…

Six million gallons a minute sourced from the upper great lakes rushing toward Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway and on to the Atlantic.  An incredible phenomenon, to see the concentrated power of so much water and gravity at work.  The energy of a closed system of water replenishment in the upper great lakes through rain and snow across a massive watershed fed into rivers feeding and replenishing the great lakes.  Nature’s concentrated force visible at this nexus of power.

Timing…

10,000 years ago a gorge created by a collapse of limestone, formed the opportunity for the falls, and as the mass of water erodes the falls at nearly a foot per year, in some 50,000 years the falls will have receded into nothing but the flow of a river.  We are fortunate to have seen it while we can. 😉

Power…

Nikola Tesla…

saw this great power of water dropping some 180 feet and realized this could be tapped to spin a turbine, to turn a shaft linked to magnetic rotors, which spinning past copper stators would produce electric energy to power industry and homes through distribution of alternating current electricity.  Together with George Westinghouse they conceived a power plant which was built on this site.  In 1905 it went into service and operated for 101 years.

The power of invention…

and thought, and massive amounts of manual labor, dynamite and machinery allowed for tapping into the power of water and gravity and transport it to where it could be used productively.  Amazing the work done and illumination accomplished.

The power plant is now a museum worth seeing.  The 2200 ft. tunnel which once was used for the outflow of water that had turned the 11 turbines of the power plant, is now a walkway which leads to a viewing platform near the base of the horseshoe falls offering another view of the power of water and gravity…

The romance of nature…

the moonrise over the falls at night as they are lit by the power of electric light, an accident of timing, human innovation and celestial power, but beautiful nonetheless.

Niagara Falls 2024